WHO Chief Asks China To Share Data To Understand Origins Of Novel Coronavirus

The fact that how the novel coronavirus is capable of sustained human-to-human transmission remains a subject of debate.

People queueing to buy antigen test kits at a pharmacy amid the Covid-19 pandemic in Nanjing

Source : AFP

World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has asked China for data concerning Covid-19 to understand the origins of the novel coronavirus. In a media briefing on Wednesday, the WHO chief said, "We continue to call on China to share the data and conduct the studies that we have requested, to better understand the origins of this virus."

"As I have said many times, all hypotheses remain on the table," Ghebreyesus said as quoted in a statement on the organization's website.

Even after three years since SARS-CoV-2 first emerged in China's Wuhan, the issue of how the respiratory pathogen is capable of sustained human-to-human transmission remains a subject of debate.

Experts have shared two dominant theories on the origins of the virus. One of the theories say SARS-CoV-2 is the result of a natural zoonotic spillover. The other theory says the virus infected humans as a consequence of a research-related incident.

A WHO body is convened every few months to discuss whether the new coronavirus, which killed over 6.6 million people and disrupted economies and life across the globe, still presents a "public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC)", according to the news agency Reuters.

The WHO chief said that he was "hopeful" that the COVID-19 pandemic would no longer be considered a global health emergency next year.

"We're hopeful that at some point next year, we will be able to say that COVID-19 is no longer a global health emergency," the WHO chief said at the media briefing. He recalled that one year ago, the Omicron variant had just been "identified and was starting to take off".

"At that time, the virus was killing 50,000 people each week. Last week, less than 10,000 people lost their lives globally. That’s still 10,000 too many – and there is still a lot that all countries can do to save lives – but we have come a long way," he said.

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Meanwhile, the global health body on Wednesday said the surge in Covid-19 cases in China was well underway before the government started easing restrictions, reported news agency Reuters.

Officials in China warned that cases weree rising rapidly in Beijing after the government abruptly abandoned its zero-Covid policy, scrapping mass testing and quarantines after nearly three years of attempting to stamp out the virus.